Substance Use and Anxiety About Pain Among Patients Seeking Abortion Services.

OBJECTIVES:To evaluate how recent opioid, marijuana, and cannabidiol use affects pre-procedure pain-related anxiety for patients seeking abortion. METHODS:We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional anonymous survey of patients seeking abortion assessing recent substance use and anxiety about pain during and after abortion. We compared substance users' and non-users' anxiety scores. RESULTS:Among 217 participants, recent opioid users (5.3%) had higher median anxiety scores for pain during (7.0 vs 6.0; p=0.33) and after (8.0 vs 6.0; p=0.01) abortion than non-opioid users. Anxiety scores were similar for marijuana and cannabidiol users. CONCLUSIONS:Assessing recent opioid use may help guide counseling for anxiety about abortion.